The Daily Life of Death
by Rainbowkiwii
Summary: Jade has died and become a ghost! However, she can't seem to pass on to the other side for some reason, so she stays on Earth with other trapped ghost children until she can. (Humanstuck trolls included)
1. Chapter 1

Day 1

Jade wasn't sure how to react to this situation. She didn't know HOW it had happened. Yesterday, she was perfectly fine, frolicking with Beq and hunting with her grandpa.

But today, she woke up dead.

She didn't know it at first, until she tried to look at herself in the mirror and realized she was transparent. But after the shock had worn away, she realized that she really had no idea what to do. But there were more important things to worry about at that point anyway. For example, how was grandpa going to react? And what about poor Beq? She floated around her bathroom, puzzled as to what she should be doing. After thinking for a few minutes, she decided to check to see if grandpa had come into wake her up like he did every morning. As she hovered over to her room, she grew depressed as she realized she would never get to hear her grandpa's voice and his contagious laugh as he tried to wake her up. She eventually made her way into her room, seeing her dead body was kind of weird to her, so she tried not looking at it.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Jade swallowed.

_I'm sorry grandpa. I'm so sorry I didn't say I love you before I died._

Her grandpa burst into the room with his bright, cheerful smile. Tears stung at the corner of Jade's eyes as she watched the scene unfold.

"Jade! It's time to get up! You're going to learn how to use a rifle today! Won't that be fun?"

No response. Her grandpa was puzzled.

"Wow, you've been begging to do this since you were about four years old, and suddenly you've decided to sleep in?" her grandpa asked, almost hurt by the situation, which made it even harder for Jade not to cry. However, her grandpa's bright smile re-appeared back on his face as he spoke again.

"Ah I see what you're doing! You're going to jump up and try to scare me, aren't you? Well I'll get you before you can get me!" her grandpa said as he lunged forward, laughing and shaking Jade's lifeless body. He was hoping she would giggle and wake up like she usually did. But there was still no response.

"Jade? Are you feeling okay?" he asked. At this point, Jade couldn't take it anymore. She floated down and hugged her grandpa as tears flowed down her ghastly cheeks.

_I love you grandpa._

Jade had given him one last hug before flying out and wiping tears from her face. She didn't see him break down crying as he realized the horrible truth of what happened to his precious granddaughter. She didn't see Beq whimpering at the sight of her body. And she certainly didn't see her grandpa, with tears in his old eyes, burying his pride and joy in the meadows, which was her favorite spot to play. The funeral had been quiet, aside from the wind blowing the tall grass swiftly from side to side. Jade didn't know it, but this was actually the beginning of a violent storm. A storm that would soon have great relevance in her undead life.

Wandering around the different areas of the ocean was beginning to get tiring. She had unlimited access to everything now, and had no interest in finding anything. Instead, she had many questions racing through her mind that she wanted to find out soon.

_What am I even still doing here? I still don't know how I died! And why haven't I moved on yet? Something isn't right._ she thought as she floated over many more miles of the vast ocean.

* * *

Ugh, why aren't I capable of writing longer chapters? :/


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 2**

It had taken what seemed like a billion days to get across the ocean, and Jade was tired. She didn't even know that ghosts could get tired.

_Where do ghosts even rest?_ she wondered as she floated around an island she stumbled upon. She began to go upwards as she rested on a leaf of a palm tree, basking in the bright sun. Although she couldn't feel the suns heat radiate against her body, it felt great just being so high up. She didn't even have to worry about falling down and, er, killing herself. Again. The ghost girl closed her eyes, hoping to clear her mind and gather her thoughts while she rested.

A few hours of basking later, she got up and continued floating across the ocean. Jade wasn't sure why, but she felt like she just knew she was heading toward America, which she had planned to do, in order to see it for the first time. The state of Florida was just in her view when suddenly, she spotted another ghost floating in front of her. This ghost appeared to be that of a very short teenage male, looking angry and mumbling to himself. Jade was kind of intrigued.

"Um, excuse me!" she tried calling, getting the boy's attention immediately.

"What is it, can't you see I'm trying to pass on?" he asked harshly. Jade looked away in embarrassment.

"Well, that's what I was going to talk to you about. I thought maybe you knew about passing on, and maybe we could, I dunno, be friends?"

The boy only stared at her for a minute before answering.

"Well, I don't see why not. I've got a fucking unlimited amount of time on my hands anyway. So, what's your name?" he asked. Jade giggled.

"My name's Jade Harley! Yours?"

The ghost boy shifted uncomfortably in the air, as if trying to make himself comfortable.

"The name's Karkat Vantas. If you don't mind me asking, what event took place that screwed you over to the point of death?" he asked. Jade looked away again.

"That's the thing. I don't know how I died. I just woke up dead." she said. Karkat looked surprised.

"That must be pretty rough." Jade had nodded her head in agreement. She then cleared her throat.

"So uh, what got you here?" she asked, trying to continue the conversation. Karkat had sudden look of pain in his eyes, and Jade regretted asking the question immediately. She was about to apologize, but Karkat stopped her in her tracks.

"It's alright. I just had a bit of trouble with remembering, not to mention, reliving the ordeal. Anyway, I had a hard life with only a dad to take care of me. Well, dad got pretty mad at me one night, and shit went down, and now here I am. But I still don't understand why I can't move on. I thought once you became a ghost, that's what you did." he said. Jade apologized for his death, but couldn't help but feel glad that someone besides her was having a hard time getting this too. It was kind of like sitting in math class with her friend Jake, and texting John, Rose, and Dave. She froze for a moment.

"Hey Jade. What's up with you?" Karkat asked curiously. Jade shook out of her trance and plastered a smile on her face.

"Nothing. I just thought of my old friends. The ones I'll never get to see again." she said, suddenly feeling a pang of sadness hit her. Karkat, not knowing what to do, floated over and tried to comfort her.

"Hey it's ok. You have me now, I think. We could probably find some other dead fuckers to hang with, right?" he asked, hoping his new friend would cheer up. To his satisfaction, she did cheer up, and from that moment on, they both made a pact to find as many friends as possible. As they both floated away talking about their lives prior to death, they both still didn't notice the oncoming storm, headed straight for them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Day 3**

Karkat and Jade had made some pretty good progress in going across America. They had made it to the state of Alabama by the time the day was half way over.

"This state is Alabama. I know it's a little bit less exciting than Florida or Georgia, but it's still pretty fucking neat to me." Karkat had said as Jade looked around, in awe of the forest they had made their way into. Karkat had let her explore parts of Florida and Georgia pretty much every day, telling her all about each state. She turned to face him when they found a nice, shady tree to lie under.

"Karkat, how do you know so much about the states?" she asked. Karkat shrugged.

"I've been dead for awhile, so I got a chance to explore around. I've made my way around the entire US. So I'm assuming you're not from here then? Because it sure as hell seems like you don't know anything about the US." he said smirking.

"You're correct! Like I told you before, I used to live with grandpa all the time on an island kind of far away from here." she said, reminiscing about the easier days. Karkat nodded as if he understood. They began to talk as the sun slowly made it's way around the Earth. When it began to set, the air suddenly got colder. Even the ghost kids could feel it.

"Damn, it really got freezing. I almost forgot I could feel anything." Karkat said, curling up into a ball to keep warm. Jade huddled beside him, and tried to keep herself warm too. Karkat was kind of surprised.

"How the hell did you manage to get cold that fucking fast?" he said wrapping his transparent arms around her. She just giggled and replied with an "I don't know." Karkat just rolled his eyes, but smirked in spite of himself. Suddenly, the wind whipped up faster, and Karkat had a feeling this wasn't going to be a regular windstorm.

"Shit. Jade, I think that a tornado is coming on. We have to get underground." he said, pulling her along.

"But wait, we're ghosts, so doesn't it not matter if we're pulled in?" she said.

"Technically, you are right. But trust me, i got pulled into a hurricane when I was in Florida, and the next morning I woke up with a headache that hurt like a bitch." he said bitterly. Jade didn't even know that ghosts could feel pain, but she took Karkat's word for it. They hurried off until they found an abandoned farm. This farm, like almost every other place in Alabama, had a tornado shelter. They flew through the already closed doors and hid underground. The pair could hear the rumble of thunder outside as rain and hail pounded against the ground.

"So how long do we have to wait this out?" Jade asked. Karkat just shrugged, still listening to the hail and rain outside. Suddenly, there was a blood curdling screech that made them both jump.

"What was that?" Jade asked in a panicked tone. Karkat only glared as more screeches were heard, and put a finger to his lips, as if to signal silence. After the storm and the screeches had finally stopped, he removed the finger from his lips and spoke.

"Soul Demons." he said.

"What?"

"The things you heard earlier during the storm. They're called Soul Demons, because if they catch you, they'll eat your spirit and send you straight to Hell. Once you're in Hell, there's no going back. They're here because they only feast on the poor fuckers not lucky enough to pass on." he said in a serious tone. Jade was shocked and scared.

"H-how do you know a-about these th-things?" she asked, feeling herself tremble in fear. Karkat sighed.

"I met this ghost guy named Tavros who knew all about these guys even before he died. Ironically, he ended up being killed by one himself." Karkat said bitterly. Jade still trembled in fear.

"Oh my God. Karkat I'm scared."

"Don't be. They only come during storms." a random voice from out of nowhere said. Jade and Karkat looked around for the source. Suddenly, a ghastly figure came out from the dirt wall. It appeared to be a taller, lankier figure of a ghost girl. She had long, flowing hair, and she wore a black tattered skirt.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Karkat asked cautiously.

"My apologies for intruding on the conversation. My name's Aradia. And your name is Karkat as far as I'm concerned." Aradia said with a small grin. Karkat nodded as if to confirm that fact.

"My name is Jade! It's nice to meet you Aradia!" Jade said, earning another small grin from the girl.

"So why are you here anyway? I mean, besides the storm and all." Kakat asked.

"Well I heard you two talking, and I was surprised to hear other ghosts besides myself. Plus I died here anyway, so I stuck around." Aradia said. Karkat gave her a questioning look, and she knew she was going to have to explain how she died.

"I like archeology, but one of my excursions went horribly wrong, and now here I am." she said. Jade and Karkat nodded. After a few hours of conversing, Karkat and Jade had decided to let Aradia join them on their trip to passing on to the other side. Jade was starting to see this trip as a Wizard of Oz type, where she met new people along the way, but instead wanting to see the wizard, they all only had one goal in mind: get to the other side before the Soul Demons got them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Day 4**

The trio had once again made a significant amount of progress, wandering around the US with little trouble. At about lunch time, they stopped at a burger joint in Texas. When Jade was told where they were, she gasped in surprise.

"If this is Texas, Dave must be here!" she said, bouncing up and down. The looks on her two new found friend's faces told her that she completely forgot to mention who Dave was. She giggled and explained.

"Dave is a kid I used to talk to online. He acts really cool and likes ironic stuff. He even creates cool raps here and there." Aradia nodded, liking the sound of this person.

"Sounds like a douchebag to me." Karkat said, smirking. Jade only giggled, earning a small smile from Karkat.

"You sure like to laugh at a lot of things for being dead and all." he said, to which Jade smiled at.

_She really is kinda cute when she does that._ Karkat thought. Then he shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. No. Jade would not steal his heart. He wanted to remain as focused as possible, for now.

"So Karkat, what's the plan for moving on to the other side?" Aradia asked, catching his attention. Karkat thought for a moment.

"Well I was thinking that we could making our way west, away from the tornadoes and hurricanes, to a more calm environment, like California or Oregon or some shit. Otherwise, I don't really know how to move on." he admitted sheepishly. But Aradia only smiled.

"It's ok Karkat. Don't feel bad about not knowing what to do. We'll figure something out as we go." the girl said. Jade nodded enthusiastically. But before Karkat had a chance to respond, another thing interrupted them.

"I see you guys have a decent plan going on over here." a lispy voice of a male said from behind. They all turned to see a slightly asian looking kid, wearing 3D glasses and mismatching shoes.

"Wow, I never thought we'd a lot of meet people THIS fast. So what's your name?" Karkat asked.

"Sollux Captor. And yours?"

"Karkat. These girls are Aradia and Jade." he said gesturing towards the two ladies.

"Hello Sollux. It's nice to meet you." said Aradia.

"Hey Sollux. Glad to have you on board!" Jade said enthusiastically.

"Well I think from what I've heard of KK's plan, it sounds reasonable. We could probably find a Holy source or some shit to go." he said, doing different calculations in his head.

"Wait a minute, did you just call me KK?" asked Karkat, slightly surprised at Sollux's sudden nickname. The skinny boy looked at Karkat and smiled a shit eating grin.

"Yup. I like things in twos. But while we're talking, how did you guys die anway?" Sollux asked, crossing his transparent arms.

"My dad beat me to death." Karkat said casually, as if answering a question a teacher had asked him.

"Archeology expedition went wrong." Aradia said in a similar tone. Finally, all attention was turned to Jade, who simply shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. I just kinda woke up dead." she said. This amused Sollux.

"Wow, and I thought my death was pretty damn shitty. I ended up getting electrocuted to death while trying to clean up my spilled soda. I thought that computer was pretty good, but I guess I was wrong." he said, pushing his glasses up. Karkat smirked.

"So you're a nerd then?"

"Well, "nerd" is kind of an over exaggeration, but I guess." Sollux said, smiling as if to say "yeah I guess I never really thought of it that way." Pretty soon, the four were making their way across the flat Texas ground, occasionally playing with the tumbleweed. During one of the times they played with the weed, a group of tourists passed by. They all stared in awe at the tumbleweed, which was flying and swishing about in the air.

"Look momma, it's a dust devil!" one of the younger children said. Her mom nodded at her, and they moved on. The group stared at each other as if they all had a realization.

"So dust devils aren't caused by wind then?" Karkat asked. After a few minutes of silence, they all burst into laughter.

"I can't believe we all just stared at each other like we figured out the meaning of the universe!" Jade exclaimed, still recovering from the laughter. They all agreed, and decided to move on. Suddenly, Jade remembered something.

"Hey, this is Houston right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think the sign said it was. Why?" Aradia asked curiously.

"My friend Dave lives in this area. I want to go see if I can visit him!" Jade said.

"We do have enough time to kill, we might as well." Sollux said, to which Karkat agreed. All the rest of the day, they flew from residence to residence, seeking out the blonde haired cool kid. It was surprisingly fun for everyone. It was kind of like an adventure and a stress reliever at the same time.

Finally, after a few hours in the bright sun, they stumbled upon Dave's apartment complex. Jade knew it was his because there were remains of smuppets and other various puppet body parts on the roof. Her friends all waited for her as she passed through the walls of his apartment with ease.

_I sure hope this is where he is._ she thought as she looked around the place. She spotted an Xbox and some empty pizza boxes, two signs that this was, in fact, the Strider household. She flew from room to room until she found his. When she got in, she found him sitting on the chair by the computer, in a hunched over position. Her smile began to fade as she started to suspect something was wrong. She then noticed his trademark shades right beside him, and that's when she began to get worried.

_What could've happened to Dave?_ she thought, her mind going at a million miles an hour. Suddenly, he gave a muffled sob, and she became scared. Then, he started to mumble incoherently, and Jade had to float closer to hear him.

"Dammit Jade. Dammit, dammit, dammit. Why did you, out of all people, have to go so soon?" he mumbled, sniffing and lifting his head up to reveal tear stained cheeks. His red eyes glowed even more with the tears shining in his eyes, and Jade felt terrible. She floated down to him and gave him a hug, probably the only hug he'd ever receive from her.

"It's ok Dave." she whispered, sniffling. She knew he couldn't hear her, but it put her at ease knowing that at least she got to say goodbye one more time. She hovered there for a second, hoping that maybe he'd go back to being himself, but he didn't. At this point, she felt really terrible, and had even started to tear up herself. Although she never did end up crying, she did bury her head in her arms, and sat down. She needed to regain her composure before going back out there. Barely five seconds had passed before she felt two other arms wrap around her's. She looked up to see Karkat trying to comfort her.

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

"Sollux started to get worried that something had happened to you, so I came down to check up on you." he said.

"Oh. Thanks, but I'm fine now." she said as she began to stand.

"Are you sure you're fine?" he asked. She nodded, and they left Dave's complex. From that moment on, Jade decided that she didn't want to visit anymore of her friends. Also, she thought it was pretty nice of the usually pessimistic Karkat to come and comfort her. It was strange for him to be nice, but she kind of liked it when he was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Day 5**

The next day, the group managed to move on all the way to the edge of Arizona, mostly because they got so distracted with the alien museum in New Mexico. There were just so many sights and sounds that their brains had to take in, because they knew if they made it to the west coast, they'd never see these sights again. It was a little bit depressing, and all of them wished they could stay for even longer, but they didn't know how long they'd have or what they even needed to do to get to the other side. Plus, the Soul Demons were still on the hunt, as they had just learned a few hours ago.

"That was a close one, huh?" Karkat said as the subject was brought up again.

"Yes. I don't think I could survive another round of those horrible beasts." Aradia said, suddenly realizing how tired she really was.

"AA don't say that, I'll help you get away from those jackasses." Sollux had said. Aradia smiled, grateful for the help. Karkat had turned to Jade, who had remained laconic the whole time, instead of being cheery like she usually was. He was kind of concerned.

"Jade, are you sure you're okay? I mean, this Dave guy wasn't your significant other, was he?" he asked, secretly hoping that Jade would say no. She turned to look at him and smiled a sad smile.

"Well, he did try and ask me out one time, but he got too nervous. But it wouldn't have worked anyway, because long distance relationships are pretty hard to maintain. I think he was planning to ask me out one day though." she said, looking into the distance and going back to her quiet state.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the girl I liked moved away before I could ask her to Homecoming. I know my story's pretty fucking pathetic compared to yours, but, I'm doing the best I can since Sir Lisps a Lot over there has his hands full with Aradia." he said as he looked back at the two of them. They both sat together, holding hands, laughing about whatever weird topic they happened to be talking about. Jade chuckled and thanked Karkat for the support.

"You know, to be honest, I don't really wanna go to the other side yet. I kinda wanna just stay here and explore more." Jade said.

"Yeah I would love to do that too, if there weren't any Soul Demons everywhere and the fact that a ghost only has a certain amount of time to get up to the other side before their spirit gets stuck here until they get fucked up by a Soul Demon." Karkat said.

"Wait, how many days do you get before you have to move on?"

"If I remember right, you get 29 days after you die. Butthat's just an estimate."

"Why 29?"

"I don't fucking know, I'm not a paranormal investigator. I actually used to think those people were full of shit when I saw them on TV, but now I know better." he said.

"Yeah. I wish I could go back for one day and do everything I wanted to." Jade said, reminiscing about what she wished as a child. "So I guess I have 24 days left then."

"Yup. And I have 23."

"Ok. Karkat?"

"Yes?"

"When we go to the other side, can I go with you? I really don't want to go alone." Jade said. She hated being alone more than anything. However, while Karkat was flattered by the offer, he almost had to decline.

"Jade, it would be great if you could come along. It would probably make my whole shitty life better even. But I'm not exactly sure if we're even going to the same places." he said in a kind of disappointed tone.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked. Karkat sighed.

"Well I did some things when I was alive that I wasn't proud of, and the priests at the local church probably couldn't save my sorry ass even if they tried." he said with a casual tone, trying not to reveal too much. Jade was extremely disappointed, but understood completely.

"Hey guys, hate to ruin the moment, but there's another storm coming." Sollux said, pointing at the gray, ominous clouds in the sky. The wind whipped up, and the trees swayed with it. Karkat groaned and began to follow Sollux and Aradia to a safe shelter. But suddenly, a particularly strong gust blew all of them in different directions. It was odd for wind to do that to them, but they soon discovered why: more Soul Demons. And these ones looked almost mutated compared to the ones they had encountered before. The demons dashed at all of them just before they could recover from the initial blow. At this point, it was an every man for himself situation, and they scattered about, trying their best to get away.

_These things are really persistent! But if I try to go under ground now, I'll take too much time to go and I'll be eaten for sure!_ Jade thought as she tried not to let random gusts of wind catch her off guard. The chase between her and her perpatrator lasted for about a half an hour, but the demon was relentless. Eventually, a strong gust swept her off her feet, and she tripped in mid air. The demon had caught up to her, and Jade just froze there as the beast's large mouth hung open, ready to eat. But suddenly, the demon was hit to the side by an unseen force. It whimpered and disappeared. As the sky began to clear up, Jade got a chance to see what had saved her. Or rather, who had saved her.

"Are you alright?" the female asked.

"Yes. Thank you so very much for saving me! I owe you a lot."

"It was no trouble dear. And you don't owe me a thing." the elegant girl said, smiling a light smile.

"So, what's your name?" Jade asked as they flew around together.

"Kanaya. Yours?"

"Jade. It's nice to meet you Kanaya!"

"Same to you Jade."

"Hey, you wouldn't mind staying with me until I find my group, would you?" Jade asked.

"I'd be happy to accompany you to your group."

"Thank you Kanaya! Say, you wanna join us to? We're looking for a way to get to the other side." Jade offered. Kanaya smiled.

"Such hospitality. I'd love to join your group." she said, making Jade holler in victory. Suddenly, another voice sounded.

"Jade? Was that you?" it said. It sounded like it came from a long way away.

"Yeah!" Jade answered back. Suddenly, she saw Sollux and Aradia emerge from the tree they had been hiding in. Once they had caught up with each other, Jade asked where Karkat was.

"I honestly don't know." was all the pair could reply. This made Jade worry a lot, but Kanaya ended up calming her down a bit. Still, Jade really wanted Karkat to be around still.

And then, another problem arose.

"Uh, shouldn't they be gone by now?" Sollux asked, gesturing toward a giant wall of Soul Demons that blocked the west coast. Jade sighed.

"Well, we're screwed now."


	6. Chapter 6

**Day 6**

The previous night had passed with no sign of Karkat, and Jade was now the epitome of paranoia. Kanaya's constant reassuring was no longer helping, and she feared that Jade was on the verge of a mental break down.

"Jade, we cannot even move onto California yet, we still have time to look for your friend." a weary Kanaya said, almost giving up on calming her down completely.

"But, what if he got eaten by the Soul Demons?" Jade asked, twiddling her thumbs out of anxiety. Kanaya sighed and looked to Sollux and Aradia for help. However, there was little that they could do. In fact, they had helped even less than Kanaya had with Jade's anxiety. They floated along in an awkward silence looking for Karkat, and an opening to the cloud of Soul Demons. However, both were hard to find, and they had eventually given up and taken a break in a suburban neighborhood. Green Day's song "American Idiot" was heard in the distance, and the chirps of birds feeding their hungry babies had almost taken over the group's thoughts.

_Is this really how America runs? I'd expect it to be more quiet than this._ Jade thought. Even though this thought were completely irrational, it kept her mind off of... other things.

"So," Kanaya said, breaking the silence, "how did everyone die?" Everyone shared their experience, with Kanaya nodding at each of them, as if their experience was the important thing in the world to her.

"So how did you die?" Aradia asked, getting in a comfortable sitting position.

"You really can't tell?" Kanaya asked in surprise. The group shrugged, as if to say, "Was it supposed to be obvious?" Kanaya pointed at her stomach, and everyone's eyes followed her finger. Suddenly, it was clear to everyone how she died.

"Damn. Who shot you, and why didn't you get help immediately?" Sollux asked.

"It was a school shooting and bombing. A kid in my grade got bullied a lot for being a stuck up hipster, and for not being able to get a date. I tried to help him stop the bullying, but eventually it got overwhelming for him. He came to school one day with a gun and shot everyone in a blind fury. Then he detonated explosives that he had set up overnight. I was one the people who was shot, and I was also trapped in the rubble and debris. All the glass from the windows and the hole in my stomach eventually made me bleed to death."

"Damn. That's the most elaborate story I've heard so far." Sollux said. He had never been this amused in his life, or his afterlife. Jade was still in shock.

"Wow, that's really terrible! I thought public schools were supposed to be safe and fun." she said.

"Are you home schooled?" Kanaya asked politely, with no intention of making fun of her if she was. Jade nodded.

"I actually lived on an island, so there's no school except for educational tapes and my grandpa's knowledge." she said, remembering her grandpa and Beq. How was he even doing? She wished she could teleport so badly right now.

"Jade if it makes you feel any better, we can look for Karkat together." Kanaya had offered after awhile of sitting and watching a house's TV.

"Sure thing." she said quietly.

It was nearing the end of the day, and still no sign of Karakt or a gap in the wall of the Soul Demons.

"Why did they even create this wall?" Jade had asked after an exhausting two hours of floating.

"Perhaps they know that the west coast is where the safe point is. They aren't all that stupid after all." Kanaya reasoned.

"Guess I never thought of it that way."

After awhile, Jade and Kanaya decided it would be safest to return to the group. The Soul Demons were getting very antsy now that they had spotted the pair of ghosts. They were still hungry and on the hunt. The girls agreed that if they stayed quiet and moved slowly, they could get away without getting harmed.

Bad idea.

As soon as they turned their backs, a few Demons decided to make their move and go after them. But even Kanaya couldn't hold them off for long, for they soon grouped up into one clump of darkness. The chasing lasted for a long time, until both parties had tired out and resorted to fighting. The Demons slashed at Kanaya and Jade.

"Ouch! Shit!" Jade exclaimed as one them took a swipe at her face, making a gash in her cheek. The battle was fierce, and the girls wondered how much more they could take. Suddenly, a blow to their stomachs knocked them off balance, and the Demon advanced on both of them, mouth wide open. They used the last of their strength to defend themselves from the jaws, but to no avail. Jade and Kanaya's visions grew blurry as they found the Soul Demon's jaws on their heads. Unimaginable pain shot down their bodies as they cringed, thinking only one thing:

_This is it, I'm going to Hell._

And then, the demon ball was suddenly punched away. Although their vision's were blurry, they could make out two figures helping them up. One was a male that was very muscular and had long hair, who they assumed was the one who had defended them. The other was a shorter male with shorter hair. Wait a minute.

"K-karkat?" Jade asked, coughing a few times.

"Don't worry Jade. I got you." was the last thing she heard before blacking out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 7**

When Jade awoke, it was the next morning. However, the sun wasn't all the way up past the horizon quite yet, so everyone was still sleeping. Jade didn't mind though, she liked the tranquility of the sunrise. There were so many hues and shades to look at, Jade was almost lost in her trance, before a voice snapped her out of it.

"That's the prettiest sunrise I've seen in awhile." Karkat's whisper came from beside her. She turned to face him, just staring for a minute.

"Uh, Harley? Are you o-" but the male was cut off by Jade's embrace. Even though ghosts couldn't really feel any temperature changes, Karkat could've sworn he felt his cheeks get warmer when Jade hugged him.

"I thought you had gotten eaten." Jade said quietly, burrowing her face in Karkat's chest. He only gave a light smile and hugged her.

"I don't plan on re-dying anytime soon. I was just lucky Equius was there to save my ass." he said.

"Who?"

"The other dude." It took Jade awhile, but she soon remembered the other figure beside her helping Kanaya up.

"Wait, that ghost was a dude?" she asked. Karkat gave out a silent chuckle, not wanting to wake the others.

"Yeah, I thought that too. Oh! I almost forgot. Equius is looking for a friend. He thinks that she might have gone more north after they got separated." Karkat said. Jade nodded. That's exactly where they were planning to go next.

After everyone was up and ready, they all prepared to float North, hoping to get near Oregon, but still be in western Idaho. All day they floated, having odd conversations about things that would most likely make them wind up in a mental facility if any other person heard.

"So, how would you dispose of a dead body?" Sollux asked the group.

"A river of course. Nobody would ever know it was you because the evidence would be gone in a matter of days." Karkat said.

"Plus you could burn the body, or hack it to pieces!" Aradia said with the creepiest fucking psychopathic smile anyone has ever seen. The group decided not to talk about killing anymore after that experience.

"Are we there yet?" Jade complained after about an hour of hovering past many towns with farm after farm.

"No. It'll only be another hour." Kanaya said, receiving several groans from the group.

"Oh c'mon guys, it's not _that_ bad."

Three hours later, they had no idea where they were. Usually they knew they had arrived in another state by the highway signs changing, or a sign saying "you are now entering _." But at this point, the signs had looked all the same. Frustrated, the group sat down in a corn field for awhile. The distant buzz of Soul Demons and the cawing of crows were the only things they could hear. They sat there brainstorming ideas, until they thought they spotted some other paranormal beings in the distance.

"Hey! I think those are other ghosts like us! Let's go see if we can get directions!" Jade said, floating over to the two ghosts. Kanaya, Karkat, and Equius all flew after her, in case they turned out to be dangerous.

"Hi!" Jade said, catching their attention. The two turned, and one of them got excited.

"Look Adella! More ghosts like us!" the girl said, bouncing up and down. The long haired one nodded at her, and then addressed Jade in a more calm manner.

"Hey. What can we do ya for?" she asked, smiling.

"We were wondering where Idaho was!" Jade asked.

"You're very close. Just head up north about another hour and you should see a sign. But I seriously suggest you don't go up there. My girlfriend and I just went up, and there's a lot of Soul Demons up there. There's practically a thousand of 'em per block. " she said, looking at her now calm partner, who nodded in agreement.

"We were just going down to California to see if there's a gap somewhere." the other one said. But Jade just shook her head sadly.

"There's no gap the last time we checked." Both girls frowned upon hearing the news.

"Well Linata, I guess we're not going anywhere for awhile now. Unless you'd rather fight another Demon."

"Yeeah, how about no." Linata said, adjusting her beanie. Adella only laughed in an "I'm just kidding" kind of way.

"But hey, we did see another girl up near the Idaho border, didn't we?" Adella asked, causing her partner to nod vigorously.

"She had a beanie like mine, but with cute little neko ears." Linata said, putting her hands up on her head to make fake cat ears and wiggle them around. This caught Equius' attention.

"We have to depart now. That description sounded a lot like Nepeta, and she might be in danger. Thank you girls for your services." he said hastily as he turned back. Jade and Karkat gave quick thank yous and good byes, and rushed off to join the group.

About an hour later, the group had reached Idaho, and frantically searched for Nepeta, while trying to avoid the hordes of the beasts.

"Help me!" Kanaya had heard after awhile of searching. She hovered over the source of noise, only to find a small figure hiding in an abandoned building. She lowered herself to where the figure lay, whimpering. Kanaya shooshed the poor girl, immediately taking note of the cat beanie she was wearing.

"Are you Nepeta?" Kanaya had asked as soon as the girl was calmed down. Nepeta had nodded quietly, still whimpering. Kanaya had noticed that she had a small gash on her cheek, similar to Jade's.

"Do y-you know E-equius?" Nepeta asked, very slowly getting up out of her hiding place. Kanaya nodded.

"He's been looking for you for awhile. Come with me."


	8. Chapter 8

**Day 8**

"EQUIUS!"

"Nepeta, you're alright!"

The two ghost kids flew over to each other at full speed, overjoyed. Nepeta hopped on Equius' transparent back and declared that she was ready to get out of this creepy (not to mention dangerous) place. Then, as of on cue, another horde of Soul Demons made their way toward the group. They absconded immediately.

They were now back in the state of Nevada, resting peacefully in the middle of the highway.

"You know, out of all the places I've ever slept, these past days have provided some of the weirdest spots." Sollux said. The whole group agreed.

"You don't really think about a lot of things until you're dead. I've started to re-evaluate my life." Aradia said thoughtfully. A couple "me toos" were heard from the group.

"So Nepeta and Equius, how did you two die?" Jade asked.

"Well there was this funny clown guy who was always really nice, and really high all the time. He was really peaceful and would always talk about miracles at school. But one day, his drugs got taken away..." Nepeta said, trailing off. She didn't want to continue in fear that she'd cry in front of everyone. Equius sensed this, and picked up where she left off.

"The young man went mad and went on a massacre. He killed Nepeta and I in the process."

"Wow, lots of school murders, huh?" Karkat said, looking back at Kanaya. She nodded, but looked like she was in deep thought. After an awkward silence, Sollux told the group that it was time to figure out a way to get past the demons. The wall was getting thicker and taller by the day, and pretty soon they feared that they'd be stuck there forever, or sent to Hell if they were caught. This was going to be very hard.

After a few hours of brainstorming, they came up with a plan. A dangerous one, but a plan nonetheless. The first thing they would do is take the fastest people of the group (Nepeta, Jade, Aradia, Sollux) and have the demons give chase to them. Then, they'd take the stronger ones (Karkat, Equius, Kanaya) and have them fight the demons. It may have not been the best plan, but they didn't know what else to do. Jade, Aradia, Sollux, and Nepeta took their positions in front of the wall. The hungry demons noticed them as expected. However, instead of running away after one followed, they managed to get about three hundred per person to follow.

_Damn, I guess they were really hungry._ Jade thought as she flew in all different directions.

Thankfully, the demons didn't close the gap that had formed, but new ones began taking their place.

_Shit_. Karkat thought as he pondered how he should go about this. Equius was the first one out of the whole group to step forward and fight. He just went in with his fists flying, sending demons whimpering to the other side of the wall. Karkat and Kanaya followed in his footsteps. Pretty soon, the three of them had made good progress.

Finally, after two hours of working to their wits end, Karkat, Kanaya, and Equius made ther way past the border. They called their other group members over. Jade and Nepeta were first to hear the call, and rushed over. Sollux and Aradia were second, but Sollux was in a bit of trouble. He had somehow managed to get himself in a corner, thinking he could hide in the building he was cornered in. Soul Demons surrounded him, and they growled with anticipation. Sollux started to float into the building, but one of the demons caught his leg just before he made it in. Aradia screamed as she watched the whole thing unfold.

"Sollux!" was all she could get out, before she witnessed the most horrifying thing ever. The demons tossed him up, and _ripped him to shreds._ They then devoured his soul. Aradia, with tears streaming down her flew away wanting to scream. She eventually found the group, and they quickly made their way across the wall of demons. Once they had ran away from danger, they sat down in a forest, and rejoiced. Jade hugged Karkat really hard and they both told each other good job. It was during that moment that Karkat would've felt his heart speed up. Just being around her made him a little bit happier. However, Aradia's crying was now very apparent to the group, and the sweet moment would have to happen later.

"Aradia, what's wrong? And where's Sollux?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Day 9**

I'm sorry my story is going really slow :/

Aradia's hands shook as she explained what had happened.

"Sollux, he, he was eaten." she said, breaking down once more. The whole group was shocked beyond words. They also felt great pity for poor Aradia, who was planning to go with Sollux to wherever he went after he passed to the otherside. She sniffed again, then noticed Nepeta, who was being comforted by Equius. She began to feel bad for making everyone else sad.

"Nepeta, please don't cry for me. We're gonna get to the otherside, with or without Sollux, ok?" she said. Jade had to admire Aradia's strength throughout this whole mess. They all agreed and moved on. What was really important is that they finally made it to Oregon. And of course, it was raining. They couldn't feel the rain, but they heard the pitter patter, and it kind of calmed them down. Jade made her way to the back of the line, where Karkat was. He had a sour expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Jade asked.

"I hate the rain. It rains here all the time as far as I'm concerned." he said.

"Why do you hate the rain?"

"It puts me in a bad mood, even more than usual." he said.

"Yeah, you're always Mister Grumpy Pants, aren't you?" she said, giggling. Karkat couldn't help but snicker. It was true. Jade moved closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder as they floated.

"Sorry, I'm kinda tired. Mind if I just rest for a bit?" she asked.

"Well you're kinda already there, so sure." Karkat said. Truth was, Karkat didn't mind that she was there. It made this bad weather seem a little better.

Pretty soon, the group came across a quiet suburban neighborhood, and decided to take a break, since they didn't really know what to do now. They decided, for about the billionth time, to brainstorm ways to get to the otherside. However, they soon got distracted when they realized that they were in a very fancy neighborhood with big houses. None of them had ever seen a big house before, so they took time exploring.

"Equius look! There's a girl on her computer in this one! She looks really stressed out!" Nepeta said, giggling.

"Nepeta, we shouldn't intrude on this poor distraught girl." But Equius' warning was useless, for Nepeta had already made her way into the house. Equius almost went after, but Nepeta came out quickly, with a huge grin on her face.

"She's writing fanfiction and doing homework at the same time, just like I used to!" she said, bouncing up and down.

"I'm sure millions of other kids like her are doing their homework while procrastinating, but we need to move on and figure out a way to move on to the otherside." Equius said, dragging his friend along. But suddenly, Nepeta got excited again. She somehow managed to wiggle her way out of Equius' strong grasp, and floated right back to the girl.

"Stupid fucking English assignment..." the girl mumbled as she pulled up a tab on the computer entitled "How ghosts move on to the Other Side."

"Equius, this is-!" but Equius had already began to drag Nepeta away.

"Nepeta, we need to move on this instant!" he stated angrily.

"But Equius-!"

"No more talking please! We have to go!" he said, dragging her away even faster and with a stronger grip.

Within an hour, the group had a rendezvous.

"So, what've you all found?" Karkat asked. There was a unanimous answer of 'nothing' from the group.

"Well I would've found out how to get there if Equius hadn't dragged me away from the big house." Nepeta said grumpily. Everyone looked over at Equius, who was shocked. Then, he started to sweat. A lot. How the fuck do ghosts even sweat?

_I'm not sure if that's natural._ Jade thought as she watched him smile nervously and stutter a lot.

"I, uh, didn't know that was-" he said, mumbling incoherent thoughts afterwards. Karkat face palmed.

"Well I guess we managed to fuck up for the billionth ti-"

"Will you all shut the fuck up? I'm trying to sleep here." a voice in the distance said with a very annoyed tone.

"Eridan, don't be rude! They didn't know that we were here!" another girl voice sounded. Pretty soon, two other people came out of a building, one of them yawning.

"Hi everyone! Sorry for my friend's grumpiness. I'm Feferi, and this is Eridan!" she said, gesturing toward her friend, who sleepily waved. Then out of the corner of Karkat's eye, he noticed something odd.

Kanaya was frozen in what seemed to be fear.

Eridan then locked eyes with her too, and they both stood in absolute silence. Something was horribly wrong.


	10. Chapter 10

**Day 10**

The sun had just began to rise, marking the tenth day of the journey. The fact that the sun was rising right at this moment of tension reminded Karkat of yesterday, when Sollux had been eaten just as the sun had risen. Now they were faced with another situation, and he couldn't wait to see how this played out.

"K-kan? I-is that you?" Eridan asked shakily. Kanaya nodded slowly, still cautiously looking at him.

"I-it's been a-awhile now, hasn't it?" Kanaya answered. She slowly floated forward toward him, hesitating along the way.

"It's okay Kan. I can't hurt you now. I can't hurt anyone now." he said. Nobody had noticed his knees shake intensely, until they buckled from underneath him, and he just sat there, trying to hold back ghastly tears. Kanaya then strode forward with full confidence, bent down, and hugged him tightly. He quietly let tears stream down his cheeks as Kanaya held him.

"I forgive you Eridan." she whispered. Karkat sat back and watched the whole thing unfold, thinking that it was interesting how Kanaya could forgive so easily. She'd make a great mother. But although it seemed that she had forgiven him, he still wondered what he had to be sorry for.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but why does Kanaya know Eridan?" Karkat asked. Everyone in the group nodded in agreement to his question. Kanaya stood, and explained.

"Eridan was the one who shot me in the school shooting." Kanaya stated simply. There was a large gasp from the group. Jade still couldn't get over the fact that a kid her age would bring something dangerous to a group of innocent children. Well maybe "innocent" was the wrong word for most of them, but the rest did nothing wrong. Or did they? Jade didn't know anymore. She just sat back and watched Feferi talk to Eridan about the whole thing, and looked up at the rising sun hidden beneath the ugly gray clouds.

And she realized something.

Jade turned away from the group and frowned as she realized just how homesick she was. She missed Beq and grandpa, and her Internet friends. Especially Dave. She couldn't get the image of him crying out of her mind. Everything was just so unreal.

"...you alright?" she heard someone ask. She turned to look at Karkat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said, are you alright?" he asked again. She nodded.

"This whole adventure just is wearing me out." she said. Karkat came closer and hugged her.

"Don't worry, we'll get to wherever we're going soon." And then, without thinking, Karkat placed a small kiss on Jade's head, which surprised her. If ghosts could blush, Karkat's face would've been as red as a tomato at that point. But Jade only looked at him and laughed. Then, she returned the kiss, on his nose this time. This would've made Karkat blush so hard his head might've popped off. Jade giggled.

"Well c'mon you two, are we gonna find this way to the otherside or what?" Eridan called back at them. They both rushed forward, rejoining the group. It had seemed that Eridan and Feferi were the newest members of the group, which meant they had to answer what was dubbed as the 'important question' by the group.

"So Feferi and Eridan, how did you two die?" Nepeta asked.

"Well I was washed away in the sea." Feferi admitted sheepishly. The group then noticed that she had a tank top on, with a swimsuit underneath.

"Well that's not so bad." Karkat said. Feferi shook her head.

"Actually, it was on my part. I was a junior lifeguard, and I was practicing saving a dummy drowning. Instead, I was the one who drowned." she said, giving a sad smile. She comforted by Nepeta and Aradia while the rest asked Eridan what happened to him.

_This probably seems really insensitive of me to think, but Eridan probably killed himself after the shooting_. Karkat thought as Eridan explained.

"Well after the shootin, I felt miserable about killin everybody. So, I killed myself." he said quietly. Nobody seemed surprised by this answer. But before everybody could move on, Aradia suddenly collapsed. She wailed in agony as she clutched her head, as if she was having the worst migraine known to man.

"Aradia, no!" Nepeta shrieked as she tried to shake Aradia. No luck. But the cat girl didn't even have to shake her again, for suddenly Aradia's eyes lit up with a light blue glow. It had seemed she was possessed. She began to speak.

"Children of the afterlife, hear my speech. If you wish to go to the otherside, you'll follow your friend." the deep voiced possessor said in an eerie tone. The group wasn't sure if they could trust the man, but they were afraid that if they didn't, Aradia would be sent to Hell, or someplace worse. They also wondered if the voice actually meant what it said about taking them to the otherside. This may have been their lucky break.


	11. Chapter 11

**Day 11**

By the time the sun had risen again, they were finally to the place where the possessor had told them to meet. It was an exhausting journey, but the group would soon find out that it was all worth it. It was on a bridge in front of a beautiful, tall waterfall that the spirit had stopped and turned to face them. He didn't say a word, he only opened a portal through the waterfall, to reveal a message written in light rainbow lettering. It gleamed of off the mist, making it easy to read.

"Ghosts like you are created when a person dies before they can resolve issues in their mortal lives. You are all also in possession of a deep, sometimes even dark secret that is keeping you from passing on. You can only pass once your secret has been revealed to those around you. Once the secret had been revealed, a door to Purgatory will appear. You can only bring one other person with you. Good luck." the message said. Suddenly, Aradia returned to normal again, as if the whole thing never happened. The rest of the group explained to her the plan, and they decided it was time to execute it. They sat in a circle around the bridge, and the cleansing began. Aradia was first.

"Two years ago, I had known this girl who was extremely mean and bitchy to everyone. I didn't like her at all, but I could tolerate her. That was, until one day she crippled my friend for life," she said, shakily continuing on. "She then convinced my boyfriend that I had been with six other boys, and he almost stabbed me on that night. And that's when I lost it." Aradia had began to shudder. "I-I cornered her one day, a-and beat the shit outta her. I kinda went too far, and I-I, killed her..." Aradia finished, shaking really badly at this point. Suddenly, a maroon red door appeared in front of her, and she knew it was time to go. She tearfully said her goodbyes and hugged everyone, thanking them for the journey. Then, she stepped through the door, and was gone in an instant. Kanaya was next.

"Let me start off by clearing my sexuality with for everyone to understand how this story goes. I am a lesbian, and when I was younger, I had a girlfriend named Rose," Upon hearing this, Jade gasped.

"Rose, as in Rose Lalonde?" she asked. Kanaya nodded.

"Did... Did something happen to her?" Jade asked. Kanaya nodded again, making Jade's heart pound in terror.

"Although I'm not quite sure how Jade knows Rose, I'll continue anyway. Rose and I were in a relationship for a long time. But we'd often get rude stares from people on the streets. One day, we were near an alley, and a group of boys approached us. They snickered and called us unspeakable profanities," Kanaya suddenly began to shake, and the group knew something big was about to happen. "Rose and I were then... raped." Kanaya finally broke down. "I blamed myself everyday for making Rose go through that. I just wanted to die. And I finally got my wish when Eridan killed me." she said. And then, Kanaya smiled. It felt good to get that off of her chest. After she was calmed down, another door appeared, this time it was a lovely jade green.

"Thank you all for a wonderful journey. I hope to see you on the otherside." she said as she stepped through to the otherside. The door disappeared, and left the groups who were going as pairs left. Jade was still shaking over Kanaya's story of Rose, which caused Kakat to put an arm around her for comfort. Nepeta and Equius were the first ones to volunteer to go.

"Well, back when Equius and I were in school, we had the funny clown boy we told you about. But some things happened when he went crazy." Nepeta said, looking down and frowning.

"I told Nepeta to wait in a closet in the school, because I thought I could hold the man off. But I couldn't, and I ended up dying. The news reports all said that he had over-powered me. But that's not the case. The real reason I died is because I simply couldn't bring myself to kill him." Equius admitted sheepishly. Nepeta gasped. She had thought that he had been over-powered, like everyone else.

"Oh god, I thought mine was bad... Equius, I never told you this, but before I died, I..." she teared up. "H-he offered to let me kill someone with him. I felt like I couldn't control my senses, and I ended up killing someone..." she said. Equius was in shock, but went over and comforted her, telling her that she had been forgiven. Suddenly, a door with blue and olive green opened, and they knew it was time to pass. They both breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have gotten that off their chests.

"We'll miss you all, and we hope you have a safe journey to wherever you're going." Nepeta said, with Equius nodding in agreement. They stepped through, and finally were gone. This left Eridan, Feferi, Karkat, and Jade.

"Ok Jade, are you read-" but Karkat stopped. Jade looked even paler than she already was.

"I... I need sometime to process this. Just... gimme some time." she said. Karkat nodded, and the rest agreed. The four that remained ended up talking all night.

_God, am I gonna be able to handle this? I'm not even sure if I'm ready to say goodbye._ was Jade's last thought before going to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Final Day**

The final day had arrived, and the final four had decided that Eridan and Feferi should go across first, just for Jade's sake. Eridan told his story first.

"Well as you all know, I killed a lot of people at my school. But there was a deeper story than just bullying. It was three bullies that really pissed me off, one of them bein my own brother. It was after I tried to ask a girl out to Homecoming and got rejected for the tenth time that my brother and his stupid friends decided that I was a joke. They pushed me around, told nasty rumors, and pretty much made sure my day was a living Hell. Then, after school, my brother went home with me like he usually did," Eridan paused and gave out a huge breath. "But my brother did somethin unusual that day. H-he started touchin me i-in weird places, and I d-didn't like it. H-he did that to me everyday after school, and h-he told me if I ever told anyone, h-he'd kill m-me. So I never told. Until I got so upset one day that I couldn't take it anymore, and I shot a lot of people, hopin I would shoot him too. That bastard is still alive today, but I ended up shootin his friends, which was a plus. But even then, he's probably makin up some fuckin sob story to dad and the rest of the media, just to get him on their side. It just makes me so fuckin mad." Eridan said, practically shaking with rage. He took a few deep breaths while being comforted by Feferi, who looked like she was on the brink of tears. "Th-the only thing I ever regret doin was shootin the only person who cared about me. That was Kan." he said, burying his face in his arms. The group had once again said that they were really sorry for what seemed like the billionth time. At this point, the sorrys that they had given out were now sounding like a sad, broken record. And they still had yet to hear what Fef had to say.

"I really feel bad for you Eridan. I was under the same family pressure as you were, but in a different way. All my life, I wanted to become an Olympic swimmer, or a marine biologist. But my mom is the CEO of the Betty Crocker baking company, so I was always under the pressure of following in her footsteps." Jade was surprised by this. The only other people she had known who had had anything to do with Betty Crocker was John and Jane. She wondered if Fef was related to them in anyway. "I also have a cousin, Jane, who really wanted to be a part of the company, so her and I did a little switchy thing where she took over for me, and I pursued my dream career." Yep, just as Jade thought, Jane had a lot to do with this. As Jade was thinking about this, Feferi's face suddenly turned dark. "Eventually, mom forced Jane to teach me all sorts of baking skills, but I didn't like it. So, I tried to rebel as much as I could. Eventually, mom got fed up with my rebelling, and I was beaten and starved for days on end. But that's ok. I was happy with swimming at the beach or in the pool after school." Jade had just realized how skinny Feferi was, and how she looked like someone who suffered from an eating disorder. "Eventually, the beatings got so bad that the CPS came over and inspected the house..." she sniffed as she continued. "A-and I told them e-everything was fine. But really, I was dying on the inside. So on the day of junior lifeguard practice, when I was asked to demonstrate how to save the dummy, I took it as a way to finally free myself from this torture. I didn't drown on accident like everyone says. I drowned on purpose." Feferi said, burying her face in her arms while being comforted by Eridan. Jade just stared at her.

_Oh my God. How am I going to do this?_ she thought as the Purgatory door appeared in front of Eridan and Feferi. They stood.

"Karkat, Jade. I know we've only known you guys a little while, but it's been an unforgettable journey. We hope you do well on your journeys to wherever your final destination maybe." Feferi said, waving goodbye as Eridan waved too. They stepped through the door, leaving Karkat and Jade being the only two left. After hearing all of these horrific stories, the two were thankful that they'd be the only two left to hear. Karkat took a deep breath, and told her he'd go first.

"Well, my story starts off with when I was in first grade. You probably can't tell now, but when I was alive, I was an Albino. In first grade, everyone made fun of me because I was different, and my parents were going through a nasty divorce. It's hard to believe when I say it now, but I actually ended up dropping out of school in fifth grade," he said, reminiscing about his life before death.

_Wow, Karkat's life sure sounds hard. Not that hard compared to mine_. Jade thought, now intrigued by Karkat's story.

"I lived with my fuckface of a father for the remainder of my time on earth. He didn't give a shit about me or my brother. So my brother went on pushing through school and getting A's like nothing. But me, I ended up joining a gang by the time I was in seventh grade. We called ourselves the Blood Brothers, because we were all Albino. We'd rob stores, scare people, one of the boys even stabbed someone, and some of them smoked and dealt pot. We were like the mafia of our town. I don't really remember why being in a gang was fun, and it was really stupid of me to waste my life like that. I ended up getting addicted to alcohol at age 14, and dad was already no stranger to that damned drug either. He'd beat us everytime he would fly into one of his rages, or when he had nothing else to do. I fucking hated that prick, and I'm not surprised my older sibling ran away with his girlfriend when he got the chance. He didn't want to deal with my shit, or my dad's, and practically left me for dead. I hated everyone and everything, so I started to cut to get out my frustration," Jade noticed the more Karkat talked, the more angry he got. "I ran away from home at one point because I was sick of my dad's bullshit. Then, I got caught, but the police noticed the scars on my body. When they asked my if my dad had hurt me, I chickened out and told them no. I've never told anyone why, but I was afraid that if I told them yes and dad went to jail, he'd come back and kill me in my sleep." he said, shaking. And then Jade noticed something she'd never noticed before in Karkat's eyes. Fear. Karkat was very afraid, and Jade didn't like that at all. So she went over to Karkat and hugged him gently. He let out a small thanks and sniffed a couple times before talking again.

"Jade, I never told you this, but because of you, I've been able to look on the bright side of things. This is going to sound really fucking clichè, but every time I talk to you, I just forget about the shitty stuff that's going on. And... I really do love you Jade." he said. He then leaned over and gave Jade a ghostly peck on the cheek. She smiled and kissed his spirit back in response.

"Karkat, you've really helped me calm down about this whole story telling thing. In fact you've helped me through every tough time I've had. I've had a crush on you for so long now. I'm glad we could make this work out." she said, smiling. They hugged for a long time, until Karkat pulled away and asked what her story was.

"Well mine isn't all that important compared to everyone else's, but it sure is unique. See, I told you that I woke up dead and had no idea why. Well now I think I know why. It's because I was having hallucinations, and I got tired of them." she said. Karkat was still confused.

"Wait, hallucinations?"

"Yes. I remember the day before I died, and when I did end up dying, I saw my grandpa and Beq playing with me, as well as mourning my body," Jade said. Then, she started to tear up. "B-but that's impossible, b-because... Beq and grandpa died two years before I did. I ended up going c-crazy because I was on that island alone for two years. I started making up elaborate stories of gray skinned creatures that had to do with the zodiacs, and other creatures, like bulls with wings and giant sea goats. Then, I'd run around the island, going on adventures with my imaginary teammates, fighting off black dogs and talking to yellow salamanders that didn't actually exist. Eventually, I told my Internet friends about this, and they all called me crazy... When I realized they were right, I got so depressed that I started to take pills. Lots of pills. I guess I over-dosed and died in my sleep. But even after all this time, I still find it hard to believe that I went crazy." she said, with a sad smile. This smile bothered Karkat, who pulled her in for another hug, and kissed her head. Jade felt a lot better. Suddenly, a door with light green and candy red appeared in front of them. Karkat smiled a genuine smile, and spoke.

"Well Jade, it's time to go. Are you ready?" Jade took one last glance back over the many hills and valleys, at the rising sun and the waterfall. She breathed everything in, for one last time. It was going to be hard to say goodbye. But with Karkat by her side, she was finally ready.

"Let's go."


End file.
